It is common to provide a supply of paper towels in public washrooms for use in drying one's hands after washing. Paper towels also are stored in home dispensers for use in cleaning kitchen and toilet surfaces, and for similar washing and drying applications. There are limitations in the usefulness of dry paper towels, however. In particular, they are not very effective for sanitizing and disinfecting dry surfaces contaminated with bacteria and similar micro-biological agents.
More recently, there have become available containers and packets of pre-moistened paper wipes known as towelettes. These are useful in sanitizing one's hands and environmental surfaces because, in addition to containing water (which, of course, helps dissolve contaminants) such pre-moistened towelettes often contain alcohol or other disinfectants. A limitation in the adoption of such towelettes, particularly with respect to their provision in public rest room facilities, is that the moistening agents are particularly volatile. Therefore, the towelettes must be kept in more or less air tight containers until just prior to use.
Complex mechanisms been proposed for holding paper towels and moistening them just prior to dispensing, or simultaneously therewith. Some of these dispense both wet and dry paper products. A problem with such machinery is that it tends to be hard to fill, delicate, expensive, prone to failure, and subject to vandalism--not to mention that it tends to require the stocking of specialized, hard-to-find papers and chemical wetting agents. By the same token, public rest room facilities often are tended by unskilled individuals who have neither the time nor the training to stock and maintain complex electromechanical apparatus for dispensing both dry towels and wet towelettes. Nor do small businesses, many of which are in out-of-the-way locations, want to have to stock exotic and expensive supplies.
There is a need, therefore, for a wipe dispenser that is capable of supplying dry paper towels and/or pre-moistened paper towelettes which is easy to refill and simple to operate, and which uses off-the-shelf supplies that are readily available throughout the country.
Prior developments in this field may be generally illustrated by reference to the following information disclosure statement:
U.S. Patent Documents U.S. Pat. No. Patentee Issue Date 5,443,084 R. Saleur Aug. 22, 1995 4,017,002 R. Doyle et al. Apr. 12, 1977 Des. 344,830 H. Carter et al. Mar. 1, 1994 4,984,530 V. Dutton Jan. 15, 1991 4,776,649 A. ten Wolde Oct. 11, 1988 Des. 342,635 H. Carter et al. Dec. 28, 1993
U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,084 describes a container having a plurality of compartments for storing separate sets of dry paper towels and the like. Also included is means for moistening one set of dry towels prior to the dispensing thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,530 describes another container that stores separate sets of dry towels and has apparatus for wetting one set as it is dispensed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,002 teaches a portable container for storing and dispensing pre-moistened towelettes. This type of prior-art container may be used within the device of the present invention, as discussed below.
The remaining patents are representative of what was found in a search of the art.
It therefore will be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved wipe dispenser apparatus which addresses the problems of construction, effectiveness and ease of use that are attendant in the prior art. In this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.